Distant Star
by Tyler743
Summary: Set between New Moon and Eclipse. When Edward and the Cullens have to go away for two weeks because of an animal shortage in Washington, Bella finds that time just drags on, until of course Jacob changes her mind. But theres more to the story then that.
1. Day 1 3:27am

**Distant Star**

**You're born, you die, and in between you make mistakes.**

**- I've just made one too many **

I was never afraid of the dark, not really. But as it surrounded me in the cold empty forest, I started to panic.

The darkness was very slowly closing in on me, which made me sure that if I did not move I would be swallowed whole. So without knowing where to go I began to move my feet, hesitant at first, but then quicker until I was running. I couldn't see what was in front of me, everything was gone and I wasn't so certain I was even in the forest anymore. I was just in a black whole, a void, where no one and nothing else could ever find me. "Edward…" I called out; only my voice was fainter then what I had intended it to be. So I tried again. "Edward…" It was louder this time, but not loud enough. "Edwa…"

A sudden red light ahead of me stopped both my words and my feet; I had found something that wasn't black, and my fear shrunk, although I knew there was something wrong.

I stayed completely still, waiting for the light to blink, or fade, or anything that would assure me that someone was there. That's when it began to move towards me, and when it was finally close enough I saw that there were two red lights. No, not lights, they were eyes. Two beady, florescent red eyes that were still proceeding forward. My breath lurched as I watched cautiously. Something was indeed wrong.

Suddenly a soft growling sound projected from the eyes, and I knew right then that the creature who was in front of me was no friend. The growling got louder, the darkness began to die down, exposing the silhouette of a large dog, not dog, wolf. White sharp teeth were also visible. I squinted my eye's trying to make out the creatures face. "Jake….?" I questioned. Then before I had time to react the creature lunged out at me. Jaw's wide open, teeth sharp and gleaming, and black silhouette still unrecognizable. I screamed.

**Day 1 - 3:27am**

My screams echoed as I felt a strong hand grab my wrist.

"Bella….Bella wake up!" The sound of the voice caused my eyes to flash open, and I was relieved to see that I was in my own room, my own bed. I pushed myself up so that I was sitting with my back agents the wall, and looked at the man who was sitting beside me. Charlie, my father; who had a very worried expression on his face. "Bella….are you okay?" he asked, laying his left hand on my knee. I noticed that I was breathing heavily, which was probably the reason that he was worried. I took a deep breath and nodded, fluttering my eyelashes at the brightness of the room. Not only did he have my bedside lamp on, but my ceiling light too.

"Yeah dad, I'm fine….just a nightmare." I mumbled. He nodded. "You haven't had one of them for awhile. Is everything….okay?"

I sighed. "Everything's fine dad, it was just a dream." Another nod. "Well okay, if you say so." Charlie said, getting up off my bed. "Go back to sleep Bella."

"I will. Goodnight." I said before lying back down. "G'night." With that Charlie turned off my lamp and my light and left the room closing the door behind him.

I laid there in the darkness, just staring up at my ceiling for a few minutes as I waited to hear the sound of his own bedroom door shutting. I was almost afraid to go back to sleep, I couldn't get the image of that black monster out of my mind. Its teeth clamping down on my flesh, ripping it apart like tissue paper. Or the sound of its growling, rolling off its tongue like thunder. Something cold wrapped around my waist, I shivered.

"Bad dream?" a soft voice whispered into my ear, cool breath tickling my neck. I jumped and quickly turned my head to the side. There lying beside me was Edward Cullen. My perfect, vampire boyfriend. My prince.

I smiled. "Did I scare you?" he asked smiling back at me. I rolled over onto my side so I could look him straight in the eyes. "Yeah just a bit." I answered truthfully. He laughed and planted an icy kiss on my forehead. "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"It's okay."

There was a long pause as we just stared into each others eyes. But the longer we looked at each other, the more his smile faded. "What's wrong?" I asked him seriously. "I actually came here to say goodbye." He said. My eyes widened and my heart stopped, all I could think about was remembering the last time he left…alone in the woods. "Wh-what?" I demanded, my heart beginning to thump hard agents my chest. "Not again…I thought you said…"

"I said that I was never going to leave you again." Edward said, silencing me. "And I'm not really leaving you for good. I just need to go out of town for a while."

My eyebrows dipped. "What for? Can I come with you?" I asked. He shook his head, and even in the dark I could see his disappointed expression. "No. I think its best if you stayed here. We're just going hunting, like usual, but we're going to be a bit longer this time."

"How long?"

"About two weeks."

"Why two weeks?"

He looked down. "There's been a shortage of animals where we usually hunt. So we're going a bit further this time." He told me. "How can there be a shortage of animals?" I asked curiously.

"Something else has been eating them." I cocked an eyebrow. "Another vampire?" I asked. Edward sat up. "We don't know for sure." I did the same.

"Well…two weeks is too long." I said, finding his hand and coiling my fingers between his. He looked down at me. "It's just one week longer then usual."

"But even that's too long" I whimpered, giving his hand a light squeeze. "Edward…let me come." Edward merely smiled and pulled his hand away. "You'll survive. Plus, being alone will give you time to think about an answer."

My eyes widened. I had forgotten all about Edward asking me to marry him only about two weeks earlier, I've just had so much on my mind. Like how Renee had gotten into a car accident on her way to pick up Phil from practice, she was fine of course but she had broken both of her legs and the doctor had strongly advised her to stay in bed for a while. Or how Jacob had stopped calling me or answering my calls.

I looked at Edward who was standing beside my bed looking down at me, I propped myself up so that my head was resting on my arm. "I'll think about it." I said softly, which caused him to smile again, and before I knew it he had swooped down at planted another frozen kiss on my forehead. He slowly started kissing down my nose until his lips finally met mine, it was a sweet, passionate kiss, like most of our kisses were, but I always hated when they were for goodbyes. Edward pulled away with a frown; I could tell he didn't want to leave. "I love you Bella Swan, now be good while I'm gone, please." I knew exactly what he meant by this. In other words he was saying "Now don't go around La Push, please."

With that he crept to my window and looked back at me one last time. "I love you too" I called to him quietly, ignoring that the intentions in his message bothered me. "I know." he frowned then, he was gone.

Morning came a little too fast for me. It seemed as if I was falling asleep one minute, and waking up the next.

My eyes opened only to be blinded by the bright light that was a sunny July morning. They quickly clumped shut again and my nose scrunched up, I hated bright mornings more then anything. Finally after a few seconds I opened them again before slowly sitting up. I sat there in my bed for a minute or two, just thinking about what I was going to do for two whole weeks without Edward. That's when I heard a faint rumbling sound coming from my abdomen, so I decided to go downstairs for breakfast.

It took me five minutes to roughly brush my hair and put on an old pair of jeans, and a shirt, then I headed down.

Charlie was already in the kitchen when I made it down, fully dressed in his Chief uniform. Two pieces of toast, eggs and bacon where waiting for me on the kitchen table. He looked at me and smiled.

"Morning Bells." He said picking his coffee mug off the counter and sitting down at the table. I smiled back and sat down as well.

"Morning…dad. Thanks for breakfast." I said taking one of the pieces of toast and shoving one of the corners into my mouth, the melted butter seeped over my teeth and onto my tongue. I bit off the corner with ease, chewed on it, swallowed it and repeated on the next side. Charlie looked at me. "Were you ok sleeping last night?" he asked, referring to after my nightmare. I looked at him. "Yeah." I said, swallowing my food. "I was fine."

He nodded and took a sip of his coffee. I watched him, lowering the half eaten toast back on my plate. What Edward had told me was just starting to progress in m brain, something else was eating all the animals? Did that mean Victoria was back for me? Or maybe the Volturi was coming. Either way I was in trouble because Edward and his family were gone. I had no protection.

"Bells? You in there?" Charlie asked his gaze meeting mine. I snapped out of my daze and looked at him. "Yeah…" I smiled. "I'm fine." Charlie cocked an eyebrow and folded his arms. "You sure?"

"Hey dad," I began, ignoring his question. "Have there been any signs of…anything weird around the woods?" He looked at me for a minute, as if he was thinking about my question, before finally pursing his lips and shaking his head. "No, not that I know of. Why, what happened?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering." There was a long uneasy pause as both Charlie and I just stared at the table. Oh how I hated those awkward silences.

"Well, I'm gonna head to work." Charlie said, getting out of his chair and setting his mug in the sink. I continued to look at the table. "Kay, see you later." I muttered. Charlie gave me one last look before disappearing down the hallway. I sat there and listened to the front door open and close. Then the sound of his car starting and setting off down the street. I huffed and looked out the window. I could already tell that the next two weeks were going to go by very slow.

I didn't finish breakfast; instead I just put it on the counter beside the sink and headed into the living room to watch some TV. But like always, there was nothing on, and as I flipped through the channels hoping to see something that caught my eye, my thoughts drifted to Victoria and the Volturi. If they were coming, any minute of anyway could be my last, I would have no idea when it would happen. For all I knew my time could be numbered. That's when I landed on the movie channel, and there on the TV was one of the Harry Potter movies. I smiled, when was the last time I saw one of these movies? I couldn't really say for sure, but I was pretty sure it was when I still lived with Renee and Phil. My eyes connected with the screen and I watched. It had been awhile since I had last watched TV, maybe too long. But Edward didn't like it, he said he would much prefer to read or listen to music, which I would too, but TV was okay.

"Harry!" Hermione called as Harry and his godfather were talking. They both spun around to see her pointing at the full moon behind them. My mouth opened slightly as I watched Lupin, one of Harry's teacher's eyes widen and strain. He was turning into a werewolf. It was then when it hit me like a tone of bricks, Jacob. I could drive down to La Push and see how Jacobs doing. Yes there's no guarantee that he's not going to want to talk to me, since he was mad, but I could give it a go.

So with that I turned off the TV, grabbed my trucks keys off the coffee table and headed for my shoes. Once they were on, I went straight to my truck, turned it on and drove off down the road.

I really hoped that Jacob would forgive me about the whole Edward thing, I didn't like not speaking with him, and he was my best friend after all. Ten minutes went by, and not once did I pass anyone on the road. Another five, still no one. I was beginning to think I was the only one left on earth or something, it was creepy. Every other time I went to La Push I passed at least five or six cars driving the other way. None the less, I kept my eyes on the road, even though they would sometimes drift to the thick forest that was surrounding either side of me. But suddenly, something up ahead caught my eye.

What looked like a dead deer on the side of the road was being picked at by two jet black ravens, their sharp beaks ripping at the creature's flesh, the blood staining their feathers. Both my eyes stayed glued to the feasting birds, and the story Edward had told me came back into my mind. _Something was killing animals._

Even as I drove past the deer I continued to watch, disgusted and yet curious in a way. I shivered to myself and finally turned my attention back to the road, only to see a giant black wolf standing straight in front of me only about twenty feet away. I gasped as my foot slammed on the break and I spun the steering wheel, trying to prevent myself from hitting the oversized dog. My truck spun around in two complete circles before stopping. I was breathing out of control as I sat there, my eyes closed tight and my heart beating fast.

When I opened my eyes, the wolf was still standing their, its black eyes staring right at me. I looked back at it. It was Sam; there was no doubt in my mind. But why would he scare me like that? I could have been hurt, he could have been hurt.

Sam continued to look at me but he slowly started to walk to the left. I continued to look at him also, my breathing and heartbeat had gone down. At the last minute before Sam got to the woods he stopped looking at me and jumped into them. The last thing I saw of him was his back feet, one pitch black like the rest of his body, and the other snow white. I kept looking and the spot where he had disappeared into the forest, still a bit dazed from the spinning of my car. Half expecting him to jump out again saying _"Sorry about that Bella, Jacob's waiting for you at his house."_ But after about three minutes of waiting, I realized he wasn't going to so I slowly put my foot back on the gas and started to drive.

From that spot, it took me exactly twenty more minutes to reach La Push, and then five more to Jacob's house. I was relived to see that his truck was parked in the driveway, so at least someone was home. After I parked my car, I strode over to his from door, preparing myself for the argument that was coming. Luckily I was used to arguments about Edward from Jake, so I already had a good idea what I was going to say. My arm raised and I knocked on the door three times, waiting for either him or Billy to answer. And I waited, and waited. But no one came. So I knocked again, five knocks this time. Still no answer. I turned my head to the side to make sure the truck was really in the drive, and I wasn't just imagining things. It was. So where was everybody? I turned back around and raised my arm again, readying myself for one final try, but before I could I heard footsteps on the other side of the door, causing me to freeze.

The door swung open and standing behind it was Jacob, both taller and muscular then I had remembered him. He had on his usual ripped jean shorts, and a gray t-shit, but even through it you could see his mussels bulging. He looked at me, his expression blank. "Oh…" he began coldly, leaning his massive body agents the door frame, crossing his arms and legs in the progress. "It's you."

My eye's shifted down in awkwardness. I hated Jacob when he was like this. "Hey Jake." I said quietly, but certainly loud enough for him to hear me. "What? Your leach leave you again?" he asked, his eyes narrowing. I didn't answer; I knew that silence was probably the best thing right now; I didn't want him to get _too_ mad. Jacob snickered while shaking his head. "Thought so, why else would you have come here?" I looked at him. 'Jacob, I didn't just come here because of that. I wanted to see you again, I miss you."

Jacob looked at me for a long minute, his eyes still narrowed, his lips pursed. Then he spoke. "Where'd he go?" he asked calmly. "Hunting…" I answered, but as soon as I saw his expression turn to horror I quickly added the rest. "Something's been killing all the _animals_ around here, so his family decided to go further to look, since they don't kill _humans_." Jacob nodded. "How long?"

"Two weeks. But I promise Jake, I'm not going to leave you again, not like before. I promise. I really do miss you; it's been killing me that I can't see you." I reassured him. He nodded again, running his tongue across his bottom lip. "Alright, since you put it that way." With that, Jacob stepped aside allowing me into his house. I smiled at him and walked in, shutting the door behind me. "Thanks Jake." I said, letting him pull me into a tight embrace. "I missed you too, for the record." he said into my hair. I pushed away from him gently and smiled. "Hungry?" he asked, his expression now soft and Jacob like again, the Jacob I loved. "Yeah, actually I am." I chuckled. He smiled and pulled me to the kitchen. I sat on the table and watched as he rummaged through the cupboards. "Damn it Paul…" I heard him mumble under his breath. "Paul?" I asked curiously. His head twitched towards me for a split second. "Yeah. My sister Rachael came back from school for the summer and he….well…they hit it off. Now he's over here every second day eating all _our_ food." Jacob tossed a can of 7Up towards me and continued to look for something to eat, I caught it. "Where are they now?" I asked, passing the can from hand to hand, enjoying the coldness of the metal. "His place probably, I dunno. How does pizza sound to you?" he asked closing the cupboard and looking at me. I shrugged. "Sounds great." He nodded.

After Jacob was finished on the phone he came back into the kitchen and sat down on the cupboard opposite me. We looked at each other, my eyes meeting his a few times. I didn't really know what to talk about, it wasn't like before, I wasn't trying to forget Edward this time, and now it was slightly uncomfortable because I knew how Jacob felt about me. I decided to make conversation. "So, I think I saw Sam today." I muttered, suddenly finding a speck on the floor very interesting. Jacob cocked an eyebrow. "Sam, where?" he asked. "On the way here. He was just….standing in the middle of the road. I almost hit him."

Jacob folded his hands together putting them in-between his knees, continuing to look at me. "Are you sure it was Sam?" he said as if I didn't know what I was talking about. This time I looked at him. "Yeah, he was a big black wolf with big black eyes. Why?" I asked him. He narrowed his eyes in thought. "Sam told us that he and Emily were going into town today to shop for wedding décors. Said he wouldn't be back until late." I looked at him in bewilderment. "It was Sam, I know it was." I told him truthfully. Because, I did know it, I knew all of the werewolves and not one of them but Sam was black. "What did he look like?" Jacob demanded. "I told you; he had black eyes, and was all black except for one of his back paws which was white."

Jacob's eyes moved to the ground, and his expression was questionable. "What is it Jake?" I asked. He shook his head. "Nothing, just….Sam doesn't have a white paw. He's completely black." I began to chew on my bottom lip. What did this mean? Was there some other werewolf that just decided to show up or was I just going crazy.

For the whole rest of the day, both Jacob and I dropped the subject. Our pizza came, we ate, watched a movie, talked, and before either one of us realized it was beginning to get dark. Jacob laughed as I playfully pushed him with my foot. We were both sitting on his living room couch, me laying on one side, and him sitting on the other. "Shut up!" I said as he teased me about being "fat". I had been telling him how I was thinking about losing a couple pounds but he did not agree and thought I was perfect the way I am. That's when we started to joke around. "All I'm saying is that maybe you shouldn't have had those two slices of pizza Bella. That stuff goes right to your hips."

"Jaaacooob!" I wined sarcastically, kicking him again, he responded with another laugh. "I'm just kidding Bella, calm down." he chuckled. I laughed too. "I know you are Jacob, I just wish you wouldn't." We stopped laughing as we heard the front door open, I sat up. "Jacob, you home?" I heard a woman's voice call. I looked at him, wondering for a minute if he was just as confused as I was. But he just continued to smile as he looked into the hallway. "Yeah, I'm in the living room!" he called back before turning to me. "Is that Rachael?" I asked. He rolled his eyes. "Unfortunately."

I looked around as a tall beautiful girl walked into the room, her long raven hair dancing behind her. She stopped walking as soon as she saw me. "Who's this?" she asked. I looked at her, she had the exact same eyes that Jacob had; big, pure brown orbs that were filled with life. "Bella Swan." Jacob answered his sister. "Chief Swan's daughter." Rachael smiled when she heard this. "Oh, so you're the Bella I've heard so much about?" she asked, walking over to us examining me. "So your, the Rachael _I've_ heard so much about?" I asked, not really knowing what else to say. Her smile grew. "Awe Jake, you tell your girlfriend about me?" she asked looking over at Jacob. His face suddenly went very serious and he looked down. "She's not my girlfriend Rachael…she's just a friend." he said quietly. "Yeah whatever. So listen, when dad gets home tell him I'm staying over at Pauls tonight." She said, pivoting on her heels and heading back for the door. "It was nice to meet you Bella."

"You know dad, doesn't like you staying over there." Jacob called after her, his voice stern. "I'm old enough to do what I want Jacob. See you tomorrow." She said, while opening the front door. "Rachael!" Jacob yelled. "Bye." Rachael said before shutting the door. Jacob clenched his eyes shut and exhaled out his nose. I looked at him. "She seems…nice." I said. He opened his eyes and relaxed his face. "She's okay, but she spends way to much time with Paul." he told me. "Why does that bother you that much? Paul's your friend…isn't he?" Jacob snorted a laugh. "Friend isn't really the word I'd use. It's not like I have a choice to like him or not, he's in my pack. And it's not that it bothers me that they're always together, I just don't like the idea of Paul as my brother in-law."

"Brother in-law? Isn't it a little too early to start thinking about that?" I asked, putting my elbow on the back of the couch and resting my cheek on my hand. "I mean, they just met like what….a week ago?" Jacob looked at me, his tongue running between his lips as if trying to moisten them. "Well…it's different for wolves. See…well….it's hard to explain." he said, and I could tell by his expression that it was difficult for him. "Try." I muttered. Jacob nodded and leaned forward so that he was a little closer to me. "Okay, well see when you're a wolf, love is kind of complicated. You can't necessarily love just anyone. When you see a certain girl, you know she's "the one" right away, and she becomes your whole life, your world."

"Sort of like….love at first sight." I suggested. "Sort of like, only more extreme." Jacob concurred. "And that's what happened to Paul, the minute he saw Rachael, he _imprinted_. And since Rachael knows about the whole wolf deal, she goes along with it." There was a pause as I waited for Jacob to continue, but after a few seconds it didn't seem like he was going to. "So….what happens when you imprint and the person doesn't go along with it? Do you just move on?" I asked, half hinting to our relationship. Jacob swallowed hard, and I watched as his atoms apple moved down then back up. "You can't move on. Even if the person doesn't love you in return you're stuck in it for life." he said, and suddenly I felt kind of guilty for asking the question. "Oh…" was my response.

So Jacob had imprinted on me, and even though I didn't feel the same way he could never love anyone else. I felt bad. Poor Jacob, he defiantly doesn't deserve that, he should have a girl. Someone who's smart, beautiful, and nice, because that's what he disserves. I looked down at the couch, wondering if I had hurt Jacob's feelings. "Can I ask you something Bells? And I'm not trying to pry, or anything….I'm just curious." He said suddenly. I continued to look down. "Shoot."

"Well….what's it like having a bl… having a vampire as a boyfriend?"

"It's the best…" I answered, though the way I said it didn't really sound that convincing. He looked down at the couch as well, and his voice became a little quieter. "And do you guys… y'know, kiss?"

"Yes."

"Aren't you ever worried about the fangs?" I looked at him, a stern expression washing over my face. "Jacob, you know he doesn't have fangs!" I hissed. "I know, I know. I was just wondering."

There was a pause, and another shock of guilt slapped me across the face. I really didn't need to snap at him. "Can I ask you one more thing?" Jacob looked at me, his expression looking as if his life depended on what I was going to say. I nodded, not wanting to be the reason of his emotional suicide. "Go ahead."

"What's it like having a werewolf as a best friend?"

I thought about it for a couple seconds, Jacob was hinting for something, I could tell. "When the werewolf's being nice…" I began honestly. "It's the best." This answer caused Jacob to smile, his white teeth flashing through his perfect lips. "Then I guess that's good enough." He replied. "For now, at least."

I rolled me eyes. "Jacob, I love Edward. And that's not going to change anytime soon." I told him for the hundredth time. "I know. But you love me too." he argued back slyly. I shook my head. "Yes, I do _**love **_you, but I'm _**in love**_with Edward."

"Sure, sure."

I sighed and leaned back on the arm of the couch, pushing myself away from him. "I should probably get going Jake. Charlie's probably having a heart attack trying to figure out where I am." Jacob smiled smugly. "You could phone him and tell him you're spending the night. Billy's not going to be back until late, so it would be okay."

I leaned my head to one side and huffed. "Jake," I warned. "Don't." He frowned. "Fine. If you're really that against having just_ one _littlefling on your vampire, then you can go…I guess." He teased, causing me to smile sarcastically. "Thank you Jacob."

Jacob walked me down the hall where I put my shoes on, then opened the door for me. "Thanks for coming by Bells. It means a lot." he said with a smile. "I will be back." I said hugging him tightly, he hugged me back. "Hope so."

I turned around and headed out the door, waving one last time at the werewolf who was leaning up agents the door frame. When I got in my truck, I was disappointed to find that it was cold, I had gotten used to being warm because of Jacob. "Burr…" I muttered to myself as I started the engine and back up out of the drive way. Just at the end of it, I couldn't help but notice a figure. I looked and was a bit surprised to see Sam in his human form walking to Jacob's, a troubled look on his face. I watched him walk right past my truck, not even turning to look at me. What was he going to Jacob's, and why did he looked so worried? Without really thinking about it too much, I shook it off and pulled out onto the road, leaving Jacob, Sam and La Push behind me.

When I got home Charlie was waiting impatiently outside the front door, arms crossed. "Where the hell were you?" he yelled as I walked up to the house. "I was…at La Push, with Jacob." I said, my voice staying moderately calm. Charlie seemed to calm down a bit as he let out a deep breath. "You could have called, or left a note. I was worried sick. You were gone all day." He said, opening the door and letting me in. As I took my shoes off, he came in also, closing the door behind him. "Sorry…we were busy." Charlie looked at me, one eye brow raised. "Busy?" he repeated. I mentally kicked myself for giving my father the wrong impression. Jacob was the only boy I knew that my father trusted with his life, now, thanks to my stupidity every time I hung out with him I would have to get a lecture. "Yeah, I mean…we watched TV, talked, that kind of stuff." I said nodding my head and headed for the stairs. "Where are you going?" Charlie asked, standing at the bottom of the staircase. "Bed." I replied. "I'm actually really beat."

Charlie nodded, we said our goodnights and I went to bed. I couldn't wait until Edward got back. It was just thirteen more days, I could handle that. Especially with Jacob here to pull me through, even though I knew the more I was around Jacob the harder it was for him. And I really did feel bad for it, but there was something about Jacob that I loved too much to let go of. Loved? I laid there on my bed and thought about it. It wasn't like I particularly loved Jacob like I did Edward, but I did love him. It was just different, almost like family love. I smiled and closed me eyes. _That's it, just like family._


	2. Day 2 9:01am

**Day 2 - 9:01am**

Once again when I woke up I was greeted by a bright light. I groaned and rolled over so that my face was covered by my pillow. Why was there two sunny days in a row? Forks barley ever has sun, and so far this summer there's been two sunny days in a row. What time was it? I turned my head so that I was looking at my alarm clock on my bedside table. 9:01, great Charlie was already at work. Well, really that was great, I liked it a little better when Charlie was gone, more freedom.

So after lying in bed for what felt like hours trying to decide whether or not I should get up, forced myself out of bed and went downstairs to the kitchen, where I just sat at the table and gazed lifelessly out the window, my mind no longer with me. It was day two of being without Edward, day two without receiving his lust filled kisses, or hearing his soft angelic voice, and already I was in withdrawal. I didn't know what to do with myself. Sure I had had fun with Jacob yesterday, but it was nothing even remotely close to being with Edward. I missed him. Every passing minute, no, every passing _second_ seemed to drag on for decades. It was like I was trying to touch a rainbow; no matter how much closer I got it just seemed further and further away. I huffed and leaned back in my chair, straitening my legs out underneath the table. _You can do this._ I reminded myself mentally. _It's only two weeks Bella. You can do this._

My stomach made a low gurgling sound, and I realised that I was hungry. But I didn't really feel like searching for something to eat, so instead I grabbed an apple from the table's center piece; a bowl full of fruit. I slowly raised it to my lips and sunk my teeth into its crisp skin; its tangy juices spilled into my mouth, slightly trickling down my chin. I chewed almost cautiously on the chunk that was in my mouth, as if it was poisoned, and swallowed before whipping my chin off with my sleeve. When Snow White took the first bite of the poisoned apple, she fell into a deep sleep, only to be awakened by true loves kiss, her prince's kiss. Perhaps if I did eat a poisoned apple, Edward would come rushing to my rescue, ready to give me the kiss of life as soon as he got there. I closed my eyes; oh how I could picture it perfectly. I would be lying on my bed, lifeless. Edward would be hovering over me, are chests almost touching, his delicate lips inches from mine. Then when the moment was just right, his lips would gently meet mine, and we would share the endearment that would save my life. I shivered at the thought, and my jaw slightly dropped. I wanted him back right now, not in twelve days. But I knew it was not possible, he, along with his family had to hunt, or they're thirst for blood might turn to humans, and I certainly didn't want that to happen.

I opened my eyes again and clenched my jaw shut, putting the apple back on the table. I wanted to ignore my hunger for the moment. Maybe I could go into town later and eat out, that would be a nice treat. I pushed my chair away from the table, got up and headed over to the garbage can, tossing my apple into it. I sighed. There goes my one chance for true loves kiss, at least for two weeks. I slumped into the living room and threw myself down on the couch, kicking my feet up on the coffee table. Then I just stared at the blank TV, watching my reflection in the blackness. I did look a little fat, Jake wasn't kidding. Maybe that was the real reason Edward left, he didn't want to be seen with a paunchy girlfriend. I chuckled at my thoughts; apparently humour could make me feel a little better, but only a little. That's when I remembered Edward's proposal. He wanted us to get married. Forever committed to togetherness. That was his condition for me to be turned into a vampire. Marriage. And all though I wasn't really keen on the idea just yet, I wanted more then anything to be changed, so I would probably go along with it. I slouched my shoulders and rested my head back on the back of the couch, closing my eyes, hoping to drift back asleep, though; it wasn't the most comfortable position for that. But none the less I tried.

Well, not five minute passed when there was a loud knock on my front door. I sat back up, my neck stiff from bending backwards and looked towards the hallway, pondering weather or not I should answer it. "Bella, you there!" a familiar voice boomed through the door. I blinked and continued to stare. Had Jacob really decided to come to my house today? Ugh, so what now? I couldn't even have one day to myself? I forced myself up off the couch and stalked to the front door. Another knock. "Bella!" he yelled again, before I even got a change to answer. "Jacob, I'm right here." I said unlocking the door but leaving it closed. "Well are you gonna let me in or do I have to talk to you through the door?" he asked. I looked down at myself, still in my pyjamas. "Uh, you can. But I'm just gonna go change first." I said, gazing at the extreme short bottoms and skanky spaghetti strap top. "My pyjamas are kind of inappropriate." There was a short pause. "That's okay." Jacob chaffed. I rolled my eyes, deciding to ignore that remark. "I'll be right back Jake." I said before heading up the stairs. It took me no time flat to change into a pair of jeans and a shirt, then I roughly brushed my hair, and my teeth, and set off back to Jacob. I opened the door, and there he was, standing there with his usual wolfy grin and his arms crossed. He was wearing his usual cut off jean shorts, and bare chest. "Hey Bells. Nice to see you again." He said, pushing past me into my house. I gave him a puzzled look before shutting the door. "Well, just…make yourself at home Jacob." I muttered. He grinned at me. "Don't worry I will." he said. I shook my head. Jacob needed desperately to work on his subtlety. "You know Jake; I think your ego might be a tad too big." I told him as I followed him into my living room. He sat down in Charlie's chair and looked up at me, his face suddenly very serious. "Bella, I need to talk to you about something." he said, his voice no longer smug. I sat down on the couch and returned his look. "Jake…what's wrong?" I asked concerned for what he was going to say. Jacob leaned over so that his forearms where resting on his legs, and he twined his fingers together. His eyebrows pushed together. "You know how you told me about seeing Sam yesterday?" he asked. I nodded, waiting for him to continue. "Well, Sam came over last night and I told him about it."

"And…?" I pushed on, waving my hand in a circular motion. "Well…I can't say a lot about it right now. But I will tell you that the wolf you saw was not Sam. It wasn't any wolf that's in our pack. It was a….well….an enemy." I blinked at what he was saying. "I thought vampires were your only enemies?" I asked, a little bit confused. Jacob pursed his lips. "Yes, but see…well... this wolf is kind of…a traitor."

"Traitor?" I questioned. "So…you do know it?" Jacob shook his head. "I don't know him, not really. But Sam and Paul do. Anyway…he's not someone you want to get involved with Bella, trust me." I looked at him, he had an annoyed expression plastered on his face, and I knew he hated when he couldn't tell me things just as much as I did. So what was he saying? That I not only had Victoria and the Volturi after me, but now there was possibly a rogue werewolf now too? Great. I crossed my arms. "So what? Now I can't go to La Push?" I asked. Once again, Jake shook his head. "No you can. It's probably safer there then anywhere right now, because we can protect you there. Well…we can here too now that the Cullen's are gone, but it would be better back on the Rez."

I sighed as Jacob adjusted himself in the chair. "Why can't I just live a normal life, one without monsters trying to kill me every day?" I complained. Jacob chuckled. "Them's the breaks." he joked. I nodded. "I figured as much. So is that all you wanted?" Jacob gave a mellow shrug. "Not really. I wanted to invite you to a bonfire this Friday night. Everyone's gonna be there. Embry, Quil, Sam, Emily. Everyone." he said. I thought about it. Today was Sunday, so in exactly five days it would be Friday, day seven, the halfway point to seeing Edward again. Hmm, maybe if I was waiting for something a little closer it would make the time go by faster, and I had never been to a bonfire before. It could be fun. I nodded again. "Okay. I'm in." I said with a smile. Jacob smiled back. "Really? That's great! Embry didn't think I could get you to come. Guess I showed him."

"Guess so." I agreed with his childlike 'I told you so'. Jacob laughed and got up. "Well, I should probably get back home. I didn't exactly tell Billy I was coming up here, so he's probably having a fit trying to figure out were I went." I got up too and threw my hand out in front of me, as if I was saying stop. He just looked at me. "Don't go yet!" I begged, feeling kind of stupid for the hand thing, and let it drop to my side. "I was going to go into town for something to eat. Come with me."

Jacob's face brightened up, as if he was a child lost in a candy store. "Well, I am pretty hungry. I was in such a hurry to get here I didn't eat anything." he declared, looking down at his exposed stomach. I shook my head. "Great. But uh…you might want to put on a shirt first. I don't think they'll let you into the diner half naked."

"Probably' not." he agreed. "But I don't really have any shirts with me at the moment Bells." My eyes shifted to the stairs. "Well, maybe you could fit into one of Charlie's old shirts. Do you want me to go look for one?" I asked, already advancing to the staircase. "Fine, just don't get me anything that'll make me look old." he laughed as I rushed upstairs. When I got to Charlie's room I started rummaging through his drawers, looking for a t-shirt that would be able to fit Jacob. It finally found a plain black polo that looked rather small for Charlie and ran back down stairs with it. "Think this will fit?" I asked, tossing the shirt to Jacob. He caught it with on hand and held it out in front of him, examining it closely. Then, without a response he forced it over his head and pulled his arms through. My eyes scanned over him. "Perfect fit." he muttered, also looking himself over. I clapped my hands together. "Good then lets get going. I'm starving."

With that Jacob and I left the house, got in my truck, and headed into town. We decided to park in front of an old book store and walk two blocks to the diner, which was a good idea because it was a beautiful day out. I listened to him and he told me about something he, Quil and Embry did last week that made Billy really mad at him, something about calling Leah Clearwater's house and telling her mother that her pregnancy results were in and they were positive. I laughed with him, having to admit to myself that it was funny, though I felt kind of bad for Sue and this Leah person. As Jacob continued to tell me the story, I just looked at him; his expression was extremely happy and full of life. It was times like this that made me miss those days when I spent everyday with him at La Push. I liked it when he was like this, because even when I was hurt, or felt down about something it made me forgot why I was sad and I felt happy too.

We arrived at the diner and took our seats in the far end of the room in front of the window, where me and Charlie usually sat. It was Sunday so the diner wasn't exactly as packed as it usually was, other then Jacob and I there were only about five other people eating breakfast. "So, does this place have good food?" Jacob asked, slinging his arm over the back of the chair. I looked at him. "You've never eaten here before?" I asked. He shook his head rapidly. "Nope. Not once." I raised my eyebrows and shoved a menu towards him. "Then here, why don't you see for yourself." I watched as his eyes quickly scanned over the menu. "Hmm…" he said after a minute of looking. "Yeah, I guess they do."

"Glad you approve." I said before looking over my own menu. The waitress came up to us, pen and notebook in hand. "Hi Bella." She said as soon as she saw my face. I looked up from my menu to look at her. "Oh….hi." I responded; I could never remember her name. She smiled at me, her gums slightly sticking out, then she turned to Jacob. He smiled at her without opening his mouth; she smiled back and looked down at her notebook. "So, what can I get you kids?" she asked. I looked down. "Um, I'll just have the hash browns, and scrambled eyes, with a side order of toast." I recited. "And to drink I'll just have water." I observed as the waitress jotted down my order then we both looked at Jacob. He huffed. "I'll have the same thing, but with bacon, and Italian sausage, and a bagel with cream cheese, and a fruit cup." he stopped for a minute and bit his bottom lip, as if trying to think if he forgot anything. "Oh, and to drink I'll have milk." We both continued to look at him, I wondered for a minute if the waitress was considering if he was being serious. "Okay…" she sighed after a few seconds, and wrote down his order. "I'll be right back."

I waited until was she gone before I spoke. "Are you really going to eat all that?" I asked Jacob as he cracked his enormous knuckles. "Yeah, why wouldn't I?" I shook my head. "It's just….alot of food." I said in disbelief. He waved his hand over himself. "Werewolf here…remember Bells? I have to eat a lot." he said. "Oh yeah…forgot." I guess it did make sense; after all, Jacob was always on the run, he needed to constantly put food into him or else he would just drop one day. "So…you can't tell me anything else about that other wolf?" I asked, hoping that he would give in. But he merely shook his head. "Sorry Bella, Sam's orders." I pouted and crossed my arms. Why was Sam so strict? Sometimes I wish Jacob could just not listen to him for once and tell me everything. "Not even one little clue?" Jacob's eyes looked up as he thought about it. "No. Not even one little clue."

"Gah!" I whined. "That's not fa…"

"Bella, Jacob!" Jacob and I looked around to see Charlie walking over to us, smiling contentedly. "Dad." I said at the same time as Jacob said Chief Swan. "What are you doing here?" I asked. Charlie took the seat beside Jacob and looked at me. "I'm on break. Nothing was happening in town so….they let me take one for an hour or two, so I thought I'd swing by and have a bite to eat here. Didn't think I'd see you two here though." he said. "Yeah well….Jake stopped by to tell me something, so I invited him here with me." I said, looking down at the table. Charlie raised an eyebrow. "What about…" he swallowed hard before finishing. "Edward?" I looked up at him. "He's out of town for a few weeks. And even so, I really don't think he'd mind if I went out with a_ friend_." It wasn't a lie, Edward really wouldn't mind if I went out with a friend. Although that might change if he knew that the friend I was going out with was Jacob Black, then he would mind completely.

Edward hated the idea of me hanging out with "werewolves", he thought it was dangerous. But he didn't know Jacob or the others like I did at all. They weren't dangerous, they were my friends. It was true; the short time Edward had left me before, I grew a somewhat friendship with all of Jacob's friends. Sam, Embry, Jared, Quil, Emily, even Paul. And when we were together, I didn't think of them as wolves, I thought of them as people. It was just like with Edward and the Cullen's, no vampires here. I absolutely hated how Jacob and Edward couldn't get along just because of what they were. I didn't understand why they just couldn't stop being Vampire and Werewolf to each other, and start being Edward and Jacob, maybe then they could finally get along. But I forgot, there was more to it then that. Not only did fight because of what they were, but then there was me. They were both in love with me and hated the thought of the other one having me, even though Jacob was a little more extreme about it then Edward was.

Jacob chuckled quietly, and I knew he was thinking the same thing as me, Charlie didn't seem to notice. "So what are you two gonna do for the rest of the day?" he asked. I shrugged but Jacob seemed to have a different answer. "After this we're gonna go back down to La Push and help Sam with some wedding plans. Oh, by the way Chief Swan, you and Bella are invited." I looked at him with a questioning look on my face. Since when had we decided we were going to go to La Push after this?

"So they're finally getting hitched?" Charlie asked, leaning back into his chair. "When's the big day?" Jacob looked down at his fingers for a minute, as if calculating the days to the wedding with them, and then looked back at Charlie. "The Fourteenth." he said. "Of next month."

"So soon?" Charlie gasped in disbelief. "I'm going to have to start looking for a suit."

As Jacob and Charlie continued to discus the wedding, I looked out the window and drowned them out with my thinking. Edward would never let me go to the wedding unless he could come, and I highly doubted that would ever happen. I didn't even know why Jacob had took the time to invite me, he knew Edward by now, unless of course he was just trying to get under his skin. I watched as people and cars passed by the window of the diner. First a set of joggers ran by, dripping with sweat. Then four young girls walked by, talking and laughing as they went. I snorted. Why didn't I have girlfriends that I could talk to and laugh with? Alice didn't really count because she was Edwards sister, Jessica didn't even look at me anymore let alone talk to me, and Angela was always to busy with her boyfriend Ben, she never had time for me. I then looked at the empty lot across the street, filled with nothing but trees, shrubs and tall grass. A large blue van drove by the window slowly, blocking my view. I waited patiently for it to pass, and when it finally did, I was shocked to see something looking back at me. My breathing lurched.

There sitting amongst the shrubbery was the large black wolf from yesterday, its obscene eyes staring right at me. My eyes shifted around to the passerby's, no one seemed to notice it. But how was this possible? It was big enough.

"Here's your order." The waitress had come back with our food, and was now placing my plate in front of me. I ignored her and launched myself out of my chair. "Bella?" Charlie called after me, but it was too late, I was already at the door. I threw it open and started to cross the road, my eyes still glued to the wolf. Unfortunately as soon as I was about three steps across the street, a loud sound of a horn made me freeze and I whipped around to see a large SUV coming right at me. Just as I thought it I was done for, someone grabbed my upper arm and wrenched me back onto the sidewalk. Because of the force, we both fell to the solid pavement with a clunk, my elbow hitting it hard. I quickly looked up at my saviour, of course it was Jacob. He looked at me with an irritated look. "Bella what the hell was that?" he hissed, jumping to his feet and holding out his hand for mine. I took it and he pulled me up. Charlie ran over to us, coming out of nowhere. He grabbed me with both hands and pulled me into a hug. "Thank you Jacob." he sighed into my hair. I pulled away from him – well at least away from his embrace, and looked across the street again, the wolf was gone. Charlie, who refused to let go of me, squeezed my arms. "Bella, what were you thinking?"

I looked at them both, first at Jacob then Charlie. "Sorry…I just…I thought I saw something." I murmured. They both just gaped at me, clearly with dumbstruck concern. I looked down, scaling my tongue across the inside of my teeth. "Well…" Charlie said after a minute, letting go of my arm. "We better get back inside, or Lisa will think we skipped out on the bill." Both Jacob and I nodded and we all went inside.


End file.
